Republicans Should Listen to Teddy Roosevelt

On Tuesday, President Obama gave a speech about income inequality that could have been written by any Occupy protestor. It could also have been written, of course, by Teddy Roosevelt – who gave a similar hard-hitting speech on the same topic, in the same small town in Kansas, 101 years ago.

Like TR before him, President Obama warned of the growing gap between the very rich in this country and the middle class. In recent years, the top one percent have seen their income grow by 250%, while the ninety-nine percent have seen their income actually decline.

We’ve reached what Obama called a “breaking point” for the middle-class. And it’s up to government to step in and restore something close to a level playing field – where every American knows, if he works hard and plays by the rules, he has a chance to make it.

The first step, Obama stressed, is extension of the payroll tax cut to save middle-class families from a $1,000 tax hike, starting January 1.

If Republicans won’t listen to Barack Obama, maybe they should listen to one of their own, Teddy Roosevelt.

That’s my parting shot for today.

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Press’ seventh book, following The Obama Hate Machine (2012), covers his life as a political commentator, columnist, and radio and TV personality. He describes his hometown and family, his studies of philosophy and theology, and his long commitment to politics and media.

The host of TYT Network's nationally-syndicated Bill Press Show (Monday-Friday from 7-9am ET), Press attends the daily White House press briefing and writes a weekly column for the powerhouse politics website The Hill.